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Here are some of the directories where .desktop files describing applications can be found:

~/local/.share/applications
/usr/share/applications
/usr/share/app-install/desktop

Perhaps there are even more of them. What is the actual purpose of every particular one to exist and into which should I put my application .desktop file in what a case?

And where are application icons put to be found as referenced in the .desktop files?

Jacob Vlijm
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Ivan
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  • Thank you for your answer, @JacobVlijm. AI have had no time to check it thoroughly (if there are no other places) so far but it seems legit. – Ivan Nov 26 '15 at 12:42
  • Probably a typo. Try ~/.local/share/applications. – H2ONaCl Dec 07 '16 at 18:35

1 Answers1

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.desktop files

Globally installed applications have their .desktop file in /usr/share/applications. If a similarly named .desktop file exists in ~/.local/share/applications, it will "overrule" the global one (after log out/in after they were created). Local .desktop files are used for user-specific alterations of the functionality of the launcher, to add items to the quicklist (in Unity) e.g., or for locally installed applications.

The third directory you mention, /usr/share/app-install/desktop is used by Software Center, as explained here. Many applications don't use this one at all.

Icons

can technically be stored anywhere. Small applications can have their files (including icon) e.g. stored in one self-containing directory in /opt/<application_name>, but most of them will be found in /usr/share/icons/.
An excellent Question/Answer(s) combination on icons can be found here.

Community
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Jacob Vlijm
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